Rookie greyhound trainer enjoying the ride

By Jordan Gerrans

Youthful trainer Josh Torrens is enjoying the challenges that come along with starting a kennel of greyhounds from scratch.

The 21-year-old trained the third winner in his short tenure in the sport on Saturday evening after taking out his licence late last year.

The Beaudesert-based emerging conditioner is being mentored in the sport by his partner’s mum Nikki Peters.

Peters previously trained a team of dogs herself before stepping away from the industry for a five-year hiatus to concentrate on her hairdressing salon.

As Torrens started training late in 2023, Peters has also got back into the swing of things and they say it is a team effort.

“I just guide Josh as I was lucky to be guided by a few old fellas when I was training,” Peters said.

“I do not think anyone can do it on their own, when you are new to the industry it can be quite daunting.

“It is just about having someone by your side and guiding them. He is doing super.”

The Torrens and Peters team got back into training when Torrens bought a pup out of the blue.

That pup became race dog Hooked On Torque who won for the second time under Torrens’ care on Saturday.

The black and white bitch scored in 30.78 seconds over 520 metres after a number of promising efforts in recent weeks.

Premier Queensland greyhound race caller and prominent Brisbane form analyst John 'Bunny' Brasch noted in his call that Hooked On Torque had been knocking on the door in recent weeks and deserved a victory.

Torrens – who is a plasterer by trade - has also trained Ibrox Mccoist to a triumph since taking out his licence.

“I was pretty lucky as it normally takes people a little while to get winners coming into it,” Torrens said.

“It is not an easy industry to just walk into and get winning dogs.

“They know a fair bit from when they were doing it and they have put me in contact with people that I have been introduced to. It is good to get the help of other trainers.”

Torrens is hopeful the daughter of Group 1 champion Hooked On Scotch will eventually run a staying trip.

She finished over the top of Miss Rupee in her novice victory on Saturday night and was strong to the line late.

“We are going to nominate her again and keep her going through her grades,” Torrens said.

“I think she is going to get better and stronger with more racing she has. Hopefully she can do that as there a few things we are working on with her.

“I think she will get stronger and faster as she goes as she is only young. We might be able to step her up in distance as she is running stronger in the last few sectionals lately.”

The Torrens and Peters team share the duties with their racing dogs.

“We are all in it together, it is a big family effort,” Peters said.

Peters will often do the ‘morning shift’ while Torrens will take them racing or trialling in the evening alongside his partner.

“I was interested one day and was playing with the dogs a bit,” Torrens recalls.

“I was asking a few questions to my partner's dad and we began to look online for some pups. And, it just went from there, as we bought two – with one of them winning on Saturday night. It has gone from there as we have bought more dogs.”

The kennel has six in work at the moment as well as a new litter they are working with.

“It is a handful and you do not get much spare time so you need to be committed to it,” Torrens said.

“Especially with work and what not, there is a lot of time and effort that goes into it all. Other than that, it is good.

“I really enjoy it. We are not doing it for the money, it is about the experience and the joy of it all.”

Ibrox Mccoist – a son of champion Western Australian dog Tommy Shelby – won on debut in early October of last year to give Torrens a winner at his first official starter.

Peters is involved in several aspects of the greyhound industry.

She regularly shows dogs at events such as the Ipswich Sweepstakes for racing greyhounds as well as helping rehome dogs through her hairdressing salon.